Nine months after the lockdown, India’s atrocious attitude towards Kashmiris
has not softened. India is openly violating human rights by imposing strict
humanitarian sanctions on Kashmiris, using relentless vigor through the
security forces, resulting in the martyrdom of many innocent civilians but in
spite of all this, the voice of Kashmiris has been echoing for years.
India has abolished the special status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019 which is an unsuccessful attempt of India to stifle the voice of the independence movement and started a new era of persecution of Kashmiris.
Kashmiris have refused to obey Indian orders and despite measures like strict curfew and deployment of large numbers of troops, Kashmiri people took to the streets in Srinagar, Pulwama, Baramulla and other parts of the valley and protested against the illegal annexation by the occupying forces.
Congress and even Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in their previous tenures have never touched upon the disputed status of Kashmir under Articles 35A and 370 of their Constitution. Indian brutalities were continued but the special status of Kashmir has not been abolished.
From August 5 to date, the lamp of human rights has been lit in Kashmir and the tide of oppression is flowing in the Valley of paradise.
Two days before the August 5 move, the Indian government issued terrorism threat warning and directed all foreign and domestic tourists to leave Jammu and Kashmir. India also sent 10,000 additional troops to the valley, fear and panic spread among thousands of tourists and students in the valley after the warning of the threat of terrorist attack was issued by Indian government. Thousands of tourists flocked to Srinagar Airport, most of whom did not even have tickets.
In 2019, the occupying Indian army martyred more than 210 Kashmiris, including 3 women and 9 children, in violent operations. 827 people were injured by pellet guns out of which 162 lost their sight, 2,417 Kashmiri people were injured by firing, pellet guns and shelling by the Indian forces. The Indian Army also arrested 13,000 Kashmiris, including Hurriyat leaders, Political and human rights activists and civilians.
Indian Army has reached such lows, now they are using rape as a weapon against the Kashmiri women. Former Indian General SP Sinha, while demonstrating his mental retardation, said that Kashmiri women should be raped in occupied Kashmir. Supporting the abuse of Kashmiri women in a TV show, the former Indian Army general said that the Indian army should rape Kashmiri women.
India has turned occupied Kashmir into the world’s largest prison in the last nine months. Massacres of Kashmiri youth continue in the valley, India has miserably failed to bring the spirit of independence of Kashmiris to a standstill.
There is a continuous curfew in the valley which has been strictly enforced but some Indian soldiers have refused to inflict atrocities on Kashmiris. Many senior Indian officers within the Indian Army announced that they would not be a part of it and then sent their resignations to the government. Ample amounts of Military officers and soldiers flatly refused to go to occupied Kashmir. Thus an atmosphere of rebellion was created within the Indian Army.
Prolonged deployment in the war-torn region of Kashmir made Indian troops drained mentally and physically. They are suffering from war fatigue not only they are committing suicide due to mental bewilderment, lack of sleep and stress, but they are also killing their own colleagues. Last year, a Border security Force officer opened fire on other personnel, killing five officers. He later shot himself. Soldiers also use various tactics to get enough sleep, which can sometimes be extremely dangerous. Two soldiers were killed in a similar incident. A military jeep caught fire in Kupwara district in north Kashmir, killing two soldiers. Both soldiers were sleeping inside the jeep.
If we talk about 2020, at least a dozen Indian troops were killed in the month of April 2020 which is the most in any month since August 2019.
Five security personnel, including a Colonel, a Major and a sub-inspector, were killed in north Kashmir’s Handwara area in the first week of May 2020..
Kashmiris started their struggle for independence in 1931. On July 13, 1931, police indiscriminately opened fire on protesters outside Srinagar Central Jail, killing 17 Kashmiri people. The Kashmiris’ independence movement formally began from there and their struggle to get the right to self-determination is still continuing which cannot be suppressed by any oppression.